


Masquerade

by FrenchRaccoon



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 1987)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bickering, Drama & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-15 01:59:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14149467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchRaccoon/pseuds/FrenchRaccoon
Summary: "I have feelings, you know?"At those words, April knew how much she had fucked up. One hour ago, she was sure that she was the good one, and he the bad one. That nothing could happen between them because of that.But now, she suddenly realised that things weren't that simple.





	1. A change in continuity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you act by pure instinct. You don't think about the implication of your actions and it might just create a butterfly effect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Here is my first fanfiction on TMNT. It's on the 80's cartoon so don't be surprised. Shredder is not a robot, or Krang or whatever they made him in the new cartoons. He's just a man, Japanese, trying to kill Splinter and the turtles.  
> But well, I guess that if you are here, it's because you already know the cartoon and that you always felt that they should have made something happen between Shredder and April.  
> So please, make yourself comfortable and enjoy.

 

**April O'Neil **

 

April O'Neil was sitting on her chair, waiting for something to happen. She was seated in the middle of a plain room of the Technodrome. Shredder was just in front of her, he was monitoring his surveillance camera quietly.

It was boring, really. As always, he had appeared to kidnapped her in the morning. He had taken her back to the Technodrome and now, the charade had begun. April had met the turtles more than three years ago. In the beginning, the action was fun. Being kidnapped, investigating, … To her, it looked like a science fiction movie. But it was her life, which made it that much more exciting.

But soon, reality became… Well. Much more real. The incessant kidnappings, the –more or less- same plots… She had grown bored of it. She didn't know if Shredder had similar feelings, but he too had changed over the years. Before, he often kidnapped her in terrifying ways. Now he just came to her, asking politely for her to follow him. If she resisted, he would force her. Of course. But if she didn't fuss with him she could get some much better treatments.

One day, she managed to get an ice cream on the way to the Technodrome. This memory was still quite fresh to her as his agreement had startled her. He even paid the damned ice cream. The seller's eyes had widened at the sight of him. At least, that had been fun.

"Hey, Shredder."

"What?" He answered sharply, without even turning to face her, but she was not afraid. His ways were lost on her.

"You remember the time you got me an ice cream?"

He turned to face her. She knew it, he always turned to face her when she spoke of it.

"Again about that? It was two months ago. If I knew it would make you that much more irritating I wouldn't even have bothered to consider the idea."

As he said that, she saw a movement on one of the securities cameras. A green flash to be more precise. That was it! The turtles were here, far away but they should be here in less than an hour. If she managed to keep him from watching those damn surveillance cameras she would be home in no time. As always, he had prepared traps and robots and who knows what else it always took ages for the Turtles to get past those. And she really could make a use of the hours she would save by helping her friends.

"Anyway, we don't have any ice cream here. So don't bother to ask." He was already moving back to his work. She had to act quick.

She got up from her seat –he wasn't even bothering to tie her up anymore- and got next to him.

"Come on, I know you're grumpy because you didn't get one."

"I was on a mission. If I want ice cream, I can eat it in my spare time." He didn't bother to face her anymore. She had teased him too much about it in the past. This was bad, she really wanted to avoid all the waiting she had to undergo if he trapped the turtles.

"You know, we could have shared."

he stopped moving at those words, she had scored.

Charm was one of her strong points. She often got out of problems thanks to some charming looks and some little cleavage flashes.

She stroked his arm lightly, he didn't move by an inch. "You don't have to be shy with me."

Her hand began to move up his arm slowly. She could feel his muscles tense under her touch. He turned his head to face her just in time to miss another turtle passing by some surveillance camera.

April's concentration went back to Shredder as he fully turned to face her. "What are you doing miss April?"

It was the first he called her by her first name. She felt the atmosphere change around them. His eyes narrowed at her although his gaze wasn't aggressive. She wasn't thinking of the turtles anymore, instead, she was intrigued by his face. She never saw it properly.

Her hand went to his helmet, he didn't move to stop her. She decided she would go on until he stopped her, probably creating a fight between them. She lifted his helmet, revealing his face. He had nice and delicate features, so alien to the character he had made for himself.

"I will not say it a third time, what are you doing?" This time, she couldn't spot any angriness in his voice. In fact, he said that in a whisper.

She wondered if he was attracted to her. She was definitely attracted to him right now. She had never really considered anything about him, but she was reconsidering. Right now.

She kissed his thin lips. They were smoother than she thought they would be. She felt his hands sliding on her lower back, slowly embracing her, giving her time to decline or go away. She brought his face down to her, deepening the kiss. He took it as an invitation, embracing her completely. His hands began to wander on her body, feeling her curves. The kiss changed from simple to feverish. He pushed her to the wall, using it to lift her on his hips.

This was going way further than she had planned. But she didn't mind, he felt good and she hadn't had a date for too long. She ground herself against his lower parts, she was definitely turning him on. Their kiss seemed to go on forever as they discovered each other. It came to an end too soon as he moved away from her, forcing her to get back on her two feet.

"Stay silent." His cheeks were red and he was a little out of breath after they make out.

He grasped her hand, leading her out of the surveillance room. She didn't have the time to ask where they entered a nearby door. He drove her in what seemed to be a bedroom.

"Is this…" She never ended her sentence as he pushed her onto the mattress, silencing her with a heated kiss. A silent alarm rang in her mind, they didn't have a lot of time before her friends would get her and she really didn't want to stop this before the end.

She tugged at his tunic, clearly saying she wanted to go further. As soon as their clothes were on the floor, they picked up where they had stopped. She had never felt that turned on in ages, he was really good at this. He seemed to find all her sensitive spots, making her tremble under his touch.

She gave a small cry as he stopped their kiss. He stayed above her, effectively pinning her under him while he searched in the bedside table. He dug a condom out of the mess that was in there.

She gulped as realization dawned on her: they were about to have sex.

He gave her a look, analyzing her reactions, before swiftly putting on the rubber. He kissed her again, she answered by embracing him. She felt him at her entrance grinding. She moaned when he entered her softly, giving her time to adapt to him. He stopped when he had fully entered her, taking time to kiss her neck and her cleavage.

As soon as she began to hump back to him, he took the control again. Grinding and humping to make her moan as she never had before. He stayed attentive to her, making the best out of this encounter.

She began to feel an intense heat in her lower stomach, building her orgasm. On his part, he seemed in control. He lifted her softly in his arms, re-positioning her a straddling manner over him as he kneeled on the mattress. She repositioned herself, slowly engulfing him as she enjoyed the face he made.

"This is really _good_ , I love it." She spoke without really thinking, just enjoying the experience as a whole. He embraced her, nibbling her ear.

"I love you."

This sentence surprised her. Why would he say that? Did he mistakenly used "you" instead of "it"? She didn't have much time to think of it as he began to fiercely pump himself into her, effectively bring her orgasm to a crashing point. She hugged him close as she passed the point of no return, feeling him tense in her too.

They stayed like that for a minute or so, just enjoying the sensations. He delicately brought her down on the mattress. He then lied down next to her.

She looked at him, registering what had happened in her mind. Looking at his naked form; breathless with a thin layer of sweat. They stayed in silence for a whole minute before he took a deep breath and turned to face her. "I…"

WHHHHEEEEEEE WHEEEEEEEEE

Suddenly an alarm blared in the background. He friends must have found their way in.

Shredder's face changed dramatically, going back to the deep frown he always had when he fought with the turtles. He swiftly got up and dressed in a flash.

"Stay here, I'll be back."

He then got out. As soon as the door closed on him, April was dressing up. He could give her as many orders as he wanted, she wasn't about to follow them.

She got out, trying to recognize the isle of the Technodrome Shredder had taken her to no avail. She began to run randomly, hoping she would not confront Beebop and Rocksteady.

"Hey! Avril!" She recognized Michelangelo's voiced.

"Hey, Mickey!" She jumped in his arms, as she was used to. He hugged her back.

"Guys, I'm taking April out of here. Can you take care of Shredder and co?"

"Yep, take her out already." As always, Raphael was grumpy.

She took off with her friend going back to the safety of her apartment. Michelangelo talked a lot on the way home, asking her if Shredder had troubled her in any way. She –as always- said it had been fun even though she kept to herself the _end_ of the encounter.


	2. What is on your mind?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, April and Shredder have to deal with what happened. The question is, what do they think about it? How do each of them want to go on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello.  
> Author here. I hope you like this fanfiction. It's a bit complicated because life sometimes is hard and you need time to figure out what you want.  
> If you like my story, please leave a kudo or a comment :)

April O’Neil

The week had been completely empty. Compared to what she was used to, it was a void of fun. At first, she thought that Shredder was planning some sort of big trap for the turtles, but when she awoke in her bed Saturday morning, she understood she wouldn’t see him at all. Nothing was happening. No kidnappings, no crazy plan to conquer the world or to kill the turtles.

She had only one word of that: boring.

The next Monday she got scared. What was really happening? Was he mad at her? On her way back home, she got to the turtles' HQ. She was greeted enthusiastically by her friends, Splinter gave her a cup of tea and they all sat in their living room.

Soon, Donatello spoke of his latest invention and its progression. Michelangelo discussed the latest film they had seen, which he had enjoyed a lot, and which Raphael obviously hated. Leonardo stayed quite silent, which made April guess that they hadn't seen Shredder too, or he would be speaking of their latest encounter.

“So, I guess you haven’t seen Shredder this week? You guys seem to have a lot of free time.”

“Yeah, I guess he took holidays or something.” Said Michelangelo in between to mouthful of pizza.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing this as something bad.” Answered Leonardo with a gloomy look.

“Don’t fear Leonardo, whatever is Shredder planning, we are ready to confront him.”

April turned to Splinter: "But Splinter, it's strange. He always kidnaps me at least once a week. He never missed the Thursday night kidnapping."

Michelangelo burst out laughing: “Gosh, April, don’t tell me you miss Shredhead!”

April blushed slightly: “It’s not that! It’s just … out of character.”

“Do you miss your late nights out with Shreddie?" Michelangelo added, still laughing.

“Michelangelo, stop. You are embarrassing her.” Splinter gave Michelangelo a grave look.

"It’s not as if anything could happen between you two. He’s evil and April is surely the best girl I know.”

At those words, April felt bad. She hadn't thought of it like that. Yes, in the beginning, Shredder was just a bad guy to her but as time went by their relationship had changed. Or at least, her point of view had changed. Was she giving him too much credit?

Obviously, she must have made some face because all her friends were now looking at her silently.

 “Sorry April, I just thought it was funny. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You’re always like that, come on, it was obvious you were embarrassing her.” Raphael added.

“I am sorry!”, pleaded Michelangelo.

“Anyway, I guess April is concerned that, if Shredder doesn't come back, she'll have to make an interview of that grandma's cat who is stuck in the tree every week or so." Leonardo gave her a small wink and immediately the atmosphere was pleasant again.

“Please, don’t laugh about it. If Shredder doesn’t do anything this week, I'll have to make an interview with the guy who beat the world record of "cracking nuts with his head". It's awful!"

They laughed cheerily together and then just spoke of other things. She had had her answer, Shredder didn’t avoid her specifically, and in a way, she was glad.

 

* * *

 

Oroku Saki

He was waiting in her living room. He sat on the smaller part of the  L-shaped couch, facing the corridor that led to the front door. He was in the dark as the sun began to set. It wasn’t his first time in her apartment, but it was the first time he could lie down in her apartment.

Well, he couldn't really say he has relaxed in any way. He had thought about … He hadn't given "it" a name. He hoped, deeply, that it was as important for her than it had been for him. But obviously, it was not. Or else she would have stayed, as he had asked.

But perhaps she had no other choice?

He had thought about all week long but came to no reasonable explanation. Anyway, he had to speak to her. But to say what? He had no idea but a calm environment would be beneficial. No Krang, no turtles, just him and her. And some Chinese imperial duck. He had taken it on the way, he knew that she liked it and he somehow wished it would make the discussion easier.

He was tense but he tensed, even more, when he heard footsteps getting closer, and then the sounds of keys rattling. He heard her get in and, as she caught the sight of his shadow, dropped her keys as she took her umbrella and turned to him, menacing him with her newly found weapon.

 “Don’t move! I have a weapon!”

“Don’t be ridiculous April.”

As soon as she realized who she was facing, she was taken back. She switched the lights on, checking if it was really him. When he saw her face, he couldn’t pinpoint her emotions, was it angriness, surprise, awkwardness? She had never been so hard to decipher but it was probably because he was too stressed about her reactions.

She looked him upside-down, still weighing if she could trust him or not. She obviously was puzzled by his lack of pointy armure. He had made the choice to come in shirt and jeans, trying to look as normal as he could. Trying to make her feel comfortable.

“Drop the umbrella already. I will not hurt you. I never have.” He had whispered the last sentence and turned his face. He hated that feeling, why was he so shy with her all of a sudden?

She pouted before dropping her umbrella and her bag next to her door, she then walked into her kitchen. Ignoring him completely.

This was not going to be easy.

As he prepared himself to chase her down in the streets, she got back and put a glass of water in front of him. As she sat on the longer part of the L-shaped couch, she said “some water”, obviously not at ease with what was happening.

That made them two.

 She was not turning her back to him or facing him, which was a blessing for him and the fact he was surely blushing right now.

He looked briefly at her before he pushed his grocery bag toward her. “Chinese food.”

She gave him a questioning look, he felt obliged to add: “Every time I kidnap you at dusk, you are starving. And you seemed to like Chinese food.” Well, she mostly ate _his_ food. He was quite sure she did it to annoy him at first, but as time went by she also seemed to take a liking to it.

“Mmh, thank you.”

She took the packet, which was still quite hot, and looked at it, thoughtfully.

“It’s not poisoned.” He said, pointedly.

For some reason it made her laugh. “I thought it was Japanese food. Never would have guessed you ate Chinese food.”

"There's no Japanese restaurant near the Technodrome."

He felt more at ease and looked at her. She, on the other side, seemed a bit off. As if she was trying to understand what plan he had this time. He had to make her forget about the Shredder and think about him, Oroku. He suddenly realized that she might not know his real name. Anyway, he had to concentrate and go on.

“I saw your last interview. It was nice.”

She was taken aback by his sentence but she still answered: “Thank you. It wasn’t really fun to do but at least I got a sort of promotion for it.”

Another silence. She was now looking at him directly in the eye. She didn’t seem scared anymore. The instant seemed to stretch into minutes as they only looked at one another. She knew why he was here, and she was not scared. He felt relieved about that single fact. Feeling this was the right time, he chose to lean a bit closer and put his hand over hers.

“April...”

“No.”

She looked away as he shrunk back to his original stance. He grabbed his glass and prepared for what he saw in her eyes; rejection.

 “What?” His voice had already dropped to his habitual tone, giving her chills because she was suddenly facing Shredder again. He immediately regretted this, he hadn’t planned to scare her.

Still, she faced him and said: “You and me. It’s not possible.”

It hurt him even though he knew he would have to face it. Face the fact that nothing was meant to happen between them. Whatever he could do would not be enough to change that.

He gave her an infuriated glare. And she shrunk back just a bit but enough to satisfy him.

“You didn’t seem so resolute last time.” His voice was now more menacing. He was now gripping his glass tightly.

“I… It’s…” She took a deep breath before she spoke again, looking at him directly: “Last time was nothing.”

He had mixed feelings. Anger, sadness… He had confessed to her. At the time, he thought he was in a dream. Before he could only wish they would have some gentle interaction between the kidnapping and the usual fight. And all of a sudden, not only did she kissed him, but she also let him make love to her.

The hurting he felt seemed to outstand all of his precedent deceptions. “Nothing? I should have known that you were that kind of women. The kind that just sleeps with whatever man is close enough.”

He saw pain flashing through her eyes before it was replaced by some furious hatred. They were back to their first meeting when he was just an evil genius and her his hostage.

“You’re a monster, that’s why nothing could ever happen between us!” She had cried this sentence as she rose to her feet.

He heard nothing as he took the meaning of what she said. It hurt more than he thought. This was surely not what he had planned, as a matter of fact, he hadn't planned anything. But it was certainly not what he had sought.

He looked at her with the most hateful glare he could manage to give, she had a horrified look. He felt satisfied and grinned until he realized she was looking at his left hand, which was bleeding abundantly. He had shattered the glass he had been previously holding.

He got up as she spoke again: “You see! You have no self-control, you just do as you want. This is a difference between you and me.”

“Self-control? Self-control?! Are you seriously saying this to me? You practically jumped me in the control room! Now tell me what it was for you.”

She seemed taken aback, obviously she didn’t want to answer that question.

"Tell me!" He had shouted, frightening her in the process.

“I already told you!” She whined while walking away.

“I want you to look at me and say it!” He had grasped her wrist. Making sure she would not slip away to avoid the end of the discussion.

“It was just a fling, a one-night thing!” She shouted those words at him, her look was filled with fear and hatred. He felt ludicrous, how could he believe that love could come from their relationship? He released his grip, letting her go in the process.

He had his answer. He pressed his left hand to try to stop the bleeding. He had the sudden impression he just got back on earth. As if he had dreamed all the rest. He walked to the door, passing before without even glancing at her. The newly found silence was oppressive. He stopped just before he was about to exit: “I have feelings you know.”

He then went away.

Some mere seconds after he started to walk down the stairs she had gotten out. She looked like she was about to shout his name but stopped at the last moment. Yes, shouting the name of one of the most well-known villains of the town was not advised. And yes, she obviously didn’t know his real name.

He proceeded to run for a reason. He now knew that his feelings were just… feelings. They would just go away the moment she would go away. He just needed her out of his life.

Still, she had run after him, hurtling down the stairs to try to catch him up. But he had been quicker. Whatever she wanted with him, he didn’t want to know. His head was now cleared, he knew what he had to do. As he exited her building, he broke his shirt to bandage his hand as to leave no trace and then disappeared into the crowd.

Leaving her no chance to catch up with him.

 

 


	3. Time to have a talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April hasn't heard of Shredder since their last altercation. She now wants to speak to him again hoping things can get back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> I hope you are enjoying my story. Please, don't forget to leave a comment or a kudo. It would be lovely to have some feedback :)

**April O’Neil**

She was running down her stairs, chasing after the “Asian guy”. She was running so fast she nearly tripped, but she never caught up with him. She exited her building, searching him in the crowd of people going with their everyday life.

“I have feelings you know?”

She could still remember his tone, angry and lonely at the same time.

And she woke up.

She had dreams of that fateful evening for a month now. Since that day she never saw Shredder again, and she had to admit she was feeling lonely. Plus, it sure didn't help her get through with her dreams.

When she saw him in her living room, she really didn’t know what to do. She still had the conversation with the turtles on her mind. She had decided that the benefits for that relationship couldn’t compare with the sacrifices.

But he said _the phrase_ , she understood what was going on. As if she had been on another planet while they had talked together. She understood that he obviously had feelings for her. More than she could have believed. But it was too late, he had run off and she hadn’t been able to catch up with him.

It was still early in the morning but she chose to get up and go on with her life. She had an interview to do about a guy that had bought French car parts and then made a car out of it. She couldn’t pinpoint why someone would do that, but at least the man seemed sympathetic.

 

* * *

 

After her last interview was done, she decided to go to the turtle hideout. She knew that Shredder was obviously avoiding her, making her and the turtles meet on rarer occasions. So now, instead of partying with them after her latest kidnapping, she would just stop by on her way back from work.

"April! You're just in time for Baywatch!"

“Mickey, hey! I’m not sure I’ll watch it with you this time.” She gently hugged him as he invited her in the lair.

Splinter straighten up to greet her: “April, it’s nice to have you with us. Would you like some tea?”

“I’d prefer a coke if you don’t mind.”

"You're the guest here." He walked disappeared into the kitchen while the other turtles greeted her. Soon they were all eating chips and drinking coke, except for Splinter who drank tea, while they talked about their daily lives.

April wasn’t dumb. She knew that Shredder’s plan must involve some kidnapping at some point. But she never asked, and they never told her either. It was some kind of untold agreement between them.

The Turtles explained Shredder’s latest plan to April. As always it was quite ridiculous. It implied a lot of gum to try to immobilize them. The turtles, especially Mickey who had stopped watching Baywatch to describe a fight. Everything was going smoothly until Raphael talked, his tone quite cutting and harsh.

“Guys, we should tell her.”

“Tell her what? There’s nothing to tell Raph!” Mickey quickly replied but his voice showed signs of nervousness.

The other turtles didn't say anything but exchanged looks between them. April prepared herself for the terrible news that was coming.

Leonardo turned to face her: “April, Shredder now kidnaps other girls.”

Relief showed on her face: “I already knew that. How else could he have you get in a bubble gum factory?” She laughed lightly. She really thought that the news would be worst.

All the Turtles seemed to relax at her reaction. Except for Raphael who still had an angry look.

“Look April, I don’t know what happened between you and Shredder and, really, I’m not sure I _want_ to know. But he now kidnaps the weather girl. Just her. He replaced you.”

Michelangelo seemed to want to add something but Leonardo shushed him with a “he’s right, she deserves to know.”

On her part, April got the impression she just got knocked off. Him kidnapping other people was a thing, but him kidnapping a specific girl again and again. The feeling was horrible. As if she was just expendable. And, to add salt to the wound, the weather girl was a bimbo, even more than her.

The group was now watching her intently. They all had a different emotion. Raphael looked angry, Leonardo looked uneased, Michelangelo seemed sad, Donatello looked thoughtful and Splinter had his poker face, as always.

“I had an argument with him… More of a fight. I guess he is fed up with me.”

She felt the need to explain. She needed them as friends to support her, not as friends trying to put the missing pieces together.

“That makes sense. You must have a big fight to get this reaction from him.” Leonardo answered what the others didn’t say.

“If he hurt you, tell us. We’ll kick his ass!” Michelangelo told why kicking the air with his fists.

“No, no don’t worry. He never hurt me.”

That was what he actually told her last time. And it was quite true. In fact, she was pretty sure she was the one that hurt him.

“If you want, next time we get a call from him you can come with us.”

The group turned to Donatello that had just spoken.

“Why would she want to come with us?” Michelangelo innocently asked.

"Because, without the Shredder, she has to do a lot of stupid interviews. Even if she's not the centre of the attention she might like to get some footage.”

“Yes, that’s a great idea! Anything but those stupid interviews on the world records!”

The conversation went on. The turtles planned to take her on their next mission without putting her in too much danger. Their little meeting went on and the finally bought pizzas. Even if Shredder seemed to have lost interest in her, she was glad to have her friends with her.

 

* * *

 

Tonight was the night. The turtles had called her and they would pick her up in ten minutes. She hurriedly put her jumpsuit on, packed her portative camera and additional tapes just in case there would be a lot to record.

When the turtles offered to take her on a mission she had directly agreed. It took her less than a second to understand that would be her chance to meet him. Shredder had threatened to destroy the city by mining under it if he didn't get a huge ransom. The turtles' plan was to get in the Technodrome to neutralize it. Her plan was to, first, record the encounter, second, get in the Technodrome after the battle to have a discussion with the damn man.

She had thought about it. About all of it. And she had decided that a real talk was necessary. A talk where she would be a bit less harsh with him. A talk to end it.

The trip to the Technodrome was silent. Everyone was focused on their task.

 The fight was rougher than she what she recalled. Donatello was off to stop the Technodrome, Raphael was fighting BeeBop and Rocksteady, and Mickey and Leonardo fought against Shredder. And the two of them were having trouble to stop him. She had managed to record the fight while being discreetly hidden. At some point, it was obvious that the two turtles couldn't manage to stop Shredder but hopefully, that was not the point of the mission. Donatello had told them he needed fifteen minutes to hijack the Technodrome, so after more or less ten minutes April made a quick sign to Mickey to make him understand she was off to see Donatello. Which of course was not true. She was off to find a good hiding place.

Michelangelo gave her a thumb, which of course made Shredder realize someone was there. He turned his face just when she got out of her hiding place. The eye contact seemed to last a few minutes when in fact it only lasted a few seconds. She only had time to see him get a nasty punch in the face from Leonardo.

She heard a loud “thump” as he slumped to the ground but he must have still been able to fight as she heard Leonardo shout in pain.

She suddenly questioned her lack of realization. This was dangerous.

But it was still worth it.

She ran into a hallway too familiar. She tried the bedroom where all had begun, it was opened. She quickly hid in it and started her stopwatch. In less than twenty minutes she would have a proper conversation with Shredder and, hopefully, all could go back to what it used to be.

 

* * *

 

_Bip Bip Bip Bip…_

She stopped her stopwatch. It now dawned on her that she was more than probably alone with her enemies in their HQ. The best was to avoid Beebop and Rocksteady, try to get directly to Shredder.

She tiptoed out of the room, leaving the camera behind her to give her more chance of outrunning any possible threat.

Avoiding Beebop and Rocksteady was far easier than she had planned. They were making a fuss in the hall room. They even mentioned the fact that Shredder was in the control room, making all this too easy for her to enjoy.

Now, she had to quickly get to the control room before he spotted her with his cameras. She didn’t think twice when she got into the room. She was here for a reason.

He was on the main computer. He didn’t bother to turn as he shouted: “Beebop, Rocksteady, I already told you to leave me alone!”

His voice seemed angrier than usual but it didn’t frighten her. She stopped a few feets behind him: “Well, sorry but it’s not your two goofballs sidekicks.”

When he heard her voice he stopped what he was doing.

“April?”

He turned to look at her, checking that she really was there. Even though he still had his mask he looked astonished for a few seconds before he glared at her.

“Out, now!”

She was prepared to have a fight with him but not to get kicked out before anything could be said.

“What? No, I’m not getting anywhere until things get solved!”

He didn’t bother to listen to her as he already was calling his acolyte: “Beebop, Rocksteady, get in the control room. NOW.”

“But boss…” He stopped the communication before Beebop finished his sentence and got back to what he was doing earlier.

“What do you think you are doing? I won’t let you ignore me!”

"Well, I'm sorry Miss O'Neil but some people have an important task to tend to. Contrary to you."

“So, you are saying our issue isn’t important?”

“What issue? I do not quite understand what you are talking about Miss.”

“Don’t play with me Shredder. You’ve been avoiding me.”

“Wasn’t it the point? Didn’t you say there was nothing between us? I thought I was doing you a favour.”

He was acting like he always was. Trying to be dramatic as if he was in a drama show.

See didn’t answer as he went on typing furiously on his keyboard. The face of Beebop appeared on the screen.

“Beebop, when will you get here!”

“But Boss, we can’t! Krang told us we had to do something with the machines.”

“Yeah, you know the machines in the hall room.” Piped Rocksteady.

"Goddamnit, they are useless as always."

Shredder then turned to April, he was about to close the distance between them when Krang’s horrible face was displayed.

“Shhhrederr! Don’t you dare stop your task!” The alien-brain face suddenly contorted into a terrible mix between anger and surprise. “What is she doing here Shhhredder? I thought we wouldn’t kidnap here anymore!”

“She entered on her own. I’m getting her out now.” As Shredder said that he grasped April’s wrists painfully.

“Ouch, you’re hurting me!” April gave her some kicks which, of course, didn’t lend. “I’m not getting out of her until things get back to normal!”

“Shhhredderr, back to the computer. NOW! We’ll get rid of her later on.”

With that, Krang’s face disappeared from the screen, leaving only diagrams, numbers and flashing lights.

Shredder looked at April for an instant, not sure of what he should do. He then got her on his shoulder, like he used to do.

“I’m getting you out.”

“What? No! I want to speak with you.”

“There’s nothing to say!”

She couldn’t see his face but she felt the pain in his words. She really hurt him last time.

Shredder began to run to the exit. He was obviously in a hurry to finish whatever he had begun on his computer.

“Gosh, could you be a little gentler?”

“No, there’s no time for that. You need to get out now.”

At those words, it dawned on her that something wasn’t right. At that moment, sirens blared and the lights went red. He didn’t have time to react as he lost his balance and fell on the floor with April.

At first, April thought something had gone terribly wrong. But she then realized that the terrific sound she heard was just Shredder’s helmet hitting the ground next to her. They were now a mangled mess on the floor. She didn’t hurt that much but he, obviously, must have hit his head severely.

She detangled herself and got up while he sat on the floor, holding his head.

“Wait, I’ll take it off for you.”

“No, I don’t need your help.”

“Stop being difficult already.”

As she said that, she proceeded to take off his helmet, with or without his approval. He was so disoriented that he didn't have time to stop her. She looked carefully at his scalp, finding a little bump but nothing too serious.

“It’s okay, just a little bump. I think you’re disoriented because of the sound it made more than anything.”

Already getting his sense back, Shredder stood up: “Again, I don’t need your help.”

He wasn’t facing her but it didn’t stop her from noticing the slight blush he had on his ears.

“Give me my helmet.”

“No.”

He gave her a stern look.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s dented.” She said vehemently, but the truth was she just wanted to mess with him. And this was really the easiest way to do so.

He sighed and then took the path to the control room.

“Hey dummy, I thought you wanted to get me out of her.”

He snorted: “I’m pretty sure that it’s too late for that.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“That you probably don’t want to get out right now.”

Defeated she stopped talking. He was being as difficult as her little nephew, and that was something. But she also knew that, if Shredder changed his plans, it wasn't an insignificant choice.

They made their way back to the great hall. April didn’t see Beebop and Rocksteady but she could hear them, they weren’t far away. Shredder opened a door that lead them to an even bigger room. It was full of electronic devices and at the end of the room was a throne. On that throne, a little-animated bubblegum like brain was shouting at his subordinate. It was Krang.

“Boss, we promis’ it wasn’t our fault.” Whined Beebop.

“Yeah, we did everything you told us.” Added Rocksteady.

“I know, it wasn’t your fault for once. Here is the troublemaker: Shredder!”

“Where are we?”

At those words, Krang, who obviously had been waiting for excuses, changed colour. Passing from a light pink to a deep red.

“Where are we? Is this really your question? Where do you think we are?!”

“Dimension X?”

“Yes! Yes, yes and yes! All by your fault!”

Their bickering went on but April didn’t listen anymore. Dimension X. She had never been to Dimension X and now she was stuck in here.

“Wait! How do we get back!”

She spoke without thinking, cutting Krang’s lecture short. Shredder just looked at her, Krang answered directly.

“Well little reporter. How do you think we’ll get back hum?”

“You always get back! Isn’t this thing teleporting?”

Shredder gave her a simple answer: "Yes. But the Turtles damaged some circuits and obviously introduced a bug that I couldn't have stopped one way or another." Shredder glared at Krang while he said those last words.

“What does it mean?” She knew what it meant, she wasn’t stupid but she couldn’t help it. She had to hear it.

“It means we are all stuck here until we found a way out.” Shredder told her gravely.


	4. What will happen now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> I'm back. No, I didn't plan to upload so late but life got up with me.   
> Normally there should be another update before September, yay!  
> I want to thank KariLeanne for her nice comment. I have to say it boosted me to update sooner. I too, searched for a long time but until now I never find out nice finished stories on April/ Shredder. I wrote mine in the hope to fill the emptiness, I'm glad you like it :D

** April O’Neil **

« No ! Let me go ! »

Shredder was dragging April around the Technodrome, roughly pulling her whenever she managed to stop.

After he told her their fate, aka being stuck in another dimension, Krang had begun to shout viciously that she must be taken care of. How? She didn’t plan to know but Shredder had immediately taken her by the arm, hurting her and dragging her in the now dark corridors of the Technodrome.

“Why are you obeying to his order all of a sudden? Answer me!”

She was trying to make him speak by all means. She would be prepared to use any possible way to avoid death. And talking was one of them.

He gave her a nasty pull, twisting painfully her wrist. Tears began to fall down as she visualized him throwing her to her death in space.

“You don’t have to do that! Don’t you want me to stay alive? I’ll do anything! Please!”

He wasn’t listening to her, or he was hiding well. Or perhaps he didn’t give a fuck. This was a fucking twisted ending to her life. How did she get in this shit? She thought back to her family, her friends… She wouldn’t be able to see them again. They wouldn’t even be able to bury her.

Bigger tears came, ruining her make-up but at this point, she really didn't care.

He suddenly opened a door and threw her in a room without bothering to switch on the lights. She landed on what seemed to be a bed.

Really?

In less than a second, he was on her. Straddling her little frame and securing her. She couldn’t flee. Was she about to get raped? As he leant on her, locking her wrists over her head she shouted: “I hate you!”

“Don’t you dare shout at me again!”

His voice made her jump out of her skin. He seemed furious. He got up, took something in a dresser and secured her ankles together with ducktape. As she tried to get up, she realized that he had handcuffed her to the bedpost.

He opened the door, letting some light in.

“You don’t try to free yourself, you don’t move and you don’t even make a noise. If you respect those conditions I assure your life won’t be endangered.”

With those words, he went away. The door closed on her, leaving alone in the dark.

 

* * *

 

 

** Oroku Saki **

 She hated him. And she had good reasons to. He had just locked her up in a dark bedroom. But he had no other choice.

When he got home from their last “meeting”, Krang had understood everything. The damn thing was intelligent. Even if they had their arguments, they also had a sort of friendship. Which meant the little brain first wanted to kill the reporter to “wash him from her offence". It had taken him a long time to calm Krang down. He knew that the alien was capable of the worse, and he preferred April to be alive.

But now, all of them were in the Technodrome, meaning that Krang could throw her in space any time.

Sighing, he walked back to the great hall knowing well what was about to happen.

“What is she doing here!” The high-pitched voice of Krang made him cringe.

“She got in with the turtles.”

“We should get rid of her now!”

“You mean we should be evaluating the state of the Technodrome!”

Krang gave him a defiant look: “Where is she? She could make things worse by the minute!”

“I took care of that. She won’t be a problem. Now let’s take care of what is important.”

Krang gave an angered cry before turning to a control panel. Taping some instructions, some graphs and numbers appeared on the screen.

“As you can see. We have less than a third of energy left. The damn turtles fried some of our computer and some of our batteries! Rounding it up, we don’t know where we are and we barely have the energy left to make a single interdimensional trip.”

Krang twisted his little tentacles, waiting for the question that he knew could only come from the stupider group members.

“But boss. I don’t understand we can travel back no?” Beebop asked sheepishly.

Krang turned abruptly, sending his tentacles upward in a sign of great anger.

“No, you stupid moron! I said we don't know where we are! Which means we can't travel back to earth."

Beebop scratched his snout, thinking. “I still don’t understand.”

Krang was about to shout again but Shredder intervened: “Stop it already, your bickering won’t lead us anywhere! We should better work on a way home. Before we collide with a planet.”

“Well, that’s the interesting part. We actually landed on a planet. No idea which one but still a planet.”

“Perhaps we could go and ask for help?” Rocksteady said, looking like a child trying to help.

“When I look at you two, I don’t know which one is the stupidest but, whatever, you both deserve an award! I’m a wanted criminal in dimension X. So, if we go out and find someone, we’ll have a big target on us. And no way to protect ourselves with the Technodrome or the Foot Soldiers because we’re missing power.”

Rocksteady and Beebop seemed to tense at the idea, finally understanding what was at stake.

Shredder, not showing any sign of fear, came back in the discussion. “So, I guess we should run some equations to figure where we are and where my dimension is.”

"That is more easily said than done. Half of our computers are fried. So it might take time.”

"I'll find a way. As always."

“We might die before you find a way.” Krang was again moving his tentacles excitedly, waiting for Shredder to ask what he had just implied.

“What is the problem then?”, Shredder said with an angry tone, not liking what he sensed was about to be said.

“We won’t have enough food to survive more than six months. And, to have enough energy to jump through dimensions we’ll have to save it.”

“Which means?”

“It means they’ll be no automatic lights in the Technodrome, and that we’ll have to cut on the heating expenses.”

“We’ll manage.” Shredder gave a nonchalant shrug, ready to end this conversation and get on with what needed to be done.

But Krang didn’t see things like that: “We should get rid of her before she makes things worst. If we kill her, we’ll have enough food for 9 months.”

“No. We’re not killing her.”

“It’s a life or death choice. Killing her is giving us more chances to survive! End this petty infatuation already!”

“I said: We. Are. Not. Killing. Her!”

They were now facing each other, both equally red with anger.

“I like the reporter too! I want her to stay!” eagerly said Rocksteady.

“Yeah! Let’s take her with us! She could be our pet!”

“What?” Shredder had suddenly turned to face the mutants. Daggers could be seen in his eyes.

“Yeah, you know, like in championships. There’s that guy dressed as a kangaroo, jumping around!” gingerly said Beebop.

Relief washed over Shredder. Those two didn’t plan to touch her, they were just too stupid to know the word mascot.

Krang chose to resign and said: “Do whatever you want with her as long as nobody gets out and she doesn’t mess with the machines. And Shredder, you be cutting your food rations to give some to her. You want her to stay? Then you'll pay the price. I’ll be working on saving the energy we have left and getting some computers to work. Shredder, you just find a way to get us back to earth.”

He then went to his bedroom, definitely ending the conversation.

After all the shouting that had just occurred, the silence seemed eerie. Rocksteady and Beebop didn’t know what to do, and Shredder was thinking what he should do now. Free the reporter or work first?

"Hey, boss…" Beebop said softly.

“What?”

“Well, we have nothing to do.”

“You have something to do you moron. Wait quietly here. And don’t interfere with my researches!”

Shredder turned to walk to the control room, preferring the calm of mathematics to what awaited him when he would see April, but Beebop stopped him.

“Well, yeah. But the reporter has nothing to do too. Perhaps we could do nothing together?”

“Definitely not happening. Don’t even think about getting near her.”

“We don’t even know where she is boss…" piped up Rocksteady.

“Even better!” cried Shredder as he entered the control room.

OOO

Four hours had passed. He had worked his butt out on basics analyzing of the environment to no avail. The jungle-like planet was unknown to them. He had made a quick scan that had proven useful. There was life on this planet, animals or perhaps humans. But no ships or anything alike.

He looked a last time at the clock, in New-York city it was past midnight. He wanted to sleep after his shitty day but he also didn’t want to leave the damn woman alone. His rational mind kept on repeating to himself that he couldn’t trust her, that she would probably worsen their current situation. But he also had to admit he was afraid of what would happen to her if Krang suddenly changed his mind. Or if Beebop and Rocksteady suddenly got bad ideas like they always had.

Sighing heavily, he got up and walked to the bedroom where April was tied up. Beebop and Rocksteady were sleeping on the couches of the great hall. At least, they wouldn’t bother him if they slept.

As he walked in the darkened corridors of the Technodrome, he tried to predict how she would act when he would free her. He knew she was about to hit him, probably trying to kill him if she managed to untie herself.

The door opened with a light “swoosh” and they immediately made eye contact. She was in the same position as before. Seeing her laying on a bed, tied to his wills woke up some dark fantasy in him but he immediately pushed them aside. He had already decided that the women brought more problems than he could cope with.

Switching on the lights, he came near her. As he was freeing her ankles he wondered why she wasn’t shouting or crying like she did earlier. After her ankles, he freed her wrists. He now knew that he probably tied them to securely as she had angry red marks showing up on her lovely white skin.

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“It’s that door.” He pointed at the second door of the small room.

She got up slowly, obviously analyzing him and his actions. He didn’t move, just watched her slowly going and locking herself in the bathroom.

He knew that there was no way out of this room other than the main door. The bathroom was small and had nothing more than soap and toilet paper. Nothing else was required in the “guests” rooms.

He weighted the manacles he had specially created for “the occasion”. He really wished he could let her be, but he couldn’t afford the risk. The risk of losing her, his or his friend’s life.

She came back into the room looking a little better as she had managed to take off the ruined make up. She immediately spotted the manacles resting in his hands.

“What are you doing with that?”

He got up, facing her: "I'm sorry, I have no choice."

He closed on her, already feeling her tense up. “No, there’s other choices possible. I won’t bother you.”

“I can’t take you up on your words. Not this time, there’s too much at stake.”

He tried to keep his voice low but it came out a horribly cold way.

“No!” She suddenly jumped at him, managing to bring the heavy chain right into his left eye. The pain stroke him, incapacitating him for a second, but not enough for her to have a real chance to flee.

He caught her by the waist as she tried to pass by him and pushed her again on the bed. She landed face down, allowing him to secure her again and lock her wrists with the heavy metallic manacles.

“I knew you would do that eventually.”

She answered nothing. But still sat on the edge of the bed when he got up, freeing her in the process.

She looked closely at the manacles, slowly understanding their functionment and he felt obliged to comment: “As you can see, those manacles will secure you but they also leave you a lot of freedom. You won’t feel as free as a bird in a few days.”

“I believe the fact that being locked in a room will be enough of a reminder that I’m currently chained down.”

She gave him what was probably her meanest look. It hurt him a bit but it quickly faded away by the fact he knew he had no other options and that he was terribly tired.

“Let’s sleep.”

“What?” She seemed taken aback by his last sentence as she now had a wide look.

“I said let’s sleep.”

“I’m not doing anything with you.” She said, angrily moving the manacle’s chains to strengthen things out.

Shredder went to the bedpost and secured the other end of the chain, definitely chaining her to the bed.

“I just said let’s sleep. I didn’t mention anything else.”

She gave him a confused look, obviously not believing him.

“You may believe what you want miss O'Neil but some are not charmed as easily as you think.”

“Well, I didn’t hear you complain last time.”

“We’re not talking about that.”

He went out, closing the discussion there. He didn't want to speak about it any more than they already had. She told him her feelings, it was enough. No need to rub salt in the wound. Going to the next bedroom he came back with a fluffy blanket and a pillow.

“Why did you come back?” she hastily said as he entered the room.

“I’m sleeping here.”

“What?”

She suddenly seemed a lot less assured.

“What are you afraid of? I’m not the one lurking others in bed.” He dropped the blanket and the pillow on the floor while she silently pouted on the bed.

Of course, he had forgotten to change before coming to her. As she wasn’t tied up anymore, he was too afraid to leave her alone. The damn women had many tricks up her sleeves. But he was also adamant on the fact he didn’t want her near his room.

He would do without his pyjamas.

He switched off the lights and laid on the blanket.

None of them spoke to each other but eventually, April got under her own blanket and both fell asleep.

 


	5. Trying to find back normality

** April O'Neil **

Days went by with Shredder trying to keep her at a relative distance as they didn't speak much yet he wouldn't let her sleep alone and would take her nearly anywhere he went.

As time went by, she understood that it wasn't only related to the fact she might "blow things up" but it probably also was about her security. Krang's mean looks were enough of a proof.

But April was a woman of action. And waiting for Shredder to find a way out wasn't really what she could call action. She really needed to do something. _Anything_.

Every day seemed the same to her. Getting up – breakfast - he would take her to the control room and he would try to find a way back to earth while she waited, doing nothing – lunch – again the control room – dinner – then sleep.

Hopefully, Shredder was right, her manacles left her a lot of freedom. But anyway, she had nothing to do. So more or less free or not, changed nothing. She was still waiting

This was more and more looking like a living hell. The waiting room of hell as she was always waiting in the corner of the control room.

Well, at least there's probably something to read in the waiting room of hell. Which of course was not the case here. First, she had asked for magazines but she wasn't too surprised when he answered he had none. She then had asked for books, or anything to read and she was really surprised when he had genuinely told her he had nothing to give her. So, she was left doing nothing.

Sitting on what she now called "her chair" all she could do was lie down on what she also called "her table". At first, she was ok because she needed time to find a plan. A plan to get back to New York as soon as possible.

But she soon realized that this was not a situation she was used to. Shredder told her they were floating around in space which meant going out was a no-no. So, the real question was, what could she do to get back home? Nothing.

And she understood why Krang and Shredder seemed so tensed. They were really stuck. A whole week had passed without even the hint of good news.

Looking at his back for what seemed to be the twentieth time in less than an hour she gave a big sigh.

"Stop that already." Shredder didn't even bother to look up from his computer.

"I would if I had something else to do."

He still didn't bother to look up.

She looked at him again, wondering how she ended there. The situation had gone so far away from what she thought would happen. She now knew that she had missed him.

She didn't miss the action in itself but more of the "friendship" that went with it.

Like the day she was so hungry, he had shared with her some of his food.

"Shredder."

"What?" He seemed really focused on what he was doing.

"I miss the gonglao chicken."

He stopped taping on his computer and turned around to look at her.

"The what?"

"Come on, don't try to make me believe you forgot! You know, the food we used to eat together when you kidnapped me late in the evenings."

He didn't answer right back but still had a strange look. He seemed shared between two different feelings.

Just to clear up things, April added: "It would be a lot better than the honey sandwiches."

"Eating rocks would be better than those sandwiches."

As always, he went for the dramatic answer which made her laugh. He gave her a small smile and went back to his work.

They had made a lot of progress as he had been terrible the first few days. When she had decided to come and talk to him she thought she would see Shredder as he always was. Arrogant and self-infatuated.

But instead, she realized he had been hurt. Really hurt.

They day they had kissed and well… did more than kiss… seemed to have happened years ago. She had obviously fucked up big because the man was adamant on the fact he didn't want to speak about it anymore they already had.

Which meant they would now have very basic and distant discussion.

Far from what they had before when they bickered at one another.

She sighed again, stretching her arms and legs.

He got up and looked at her: "Don't move."

He then exited the room as if it was completely normal.

It wasn't.

This was the first time he left her alone in a week. April instantly got up, looking around to know what she could do. And that was the question, do something, yes, but what exactly?

She did a quick scan: computers, computers and … her chair and her table. What could she do? Even if she managed to get out, where would she get? Float in space until she crashes on an unknown planet or be picked up by aliens?

She sat back just before he came back.

He froze instantly when he saw her sitting quietly.

"You didn't blow up the place."

Even though his sentence was affirmative, he sounded astonished.

"Come on, I'm not always blowing things up."

"As a matter of fact, from my perspective, yes."

"Your plans are too crappy too begin with."

"Why am I even trying? Here take this and stop bothering me."

He shoved a notebook and a pen on her table before going back to his computer.

"What's that?"

"It's something to make you busy."

"Thanks, I guess…" She tried to annoy him but he didn't answer back. Well, it looked like she had to entertain herself with that notebook.

She looked at it, when she opened she discovered some pages had been ripped off. What was left was a blank book. Nothing to look at on any of the leftovers sheets. She looked at the book cover and discovered that a single thing was written on the inside of the book cover.

It was some Japanese writing and an annotation: Oroku Saki.

Of course, she knew that Shredder wasn't his real name. Plus, she had investigated on him. And found nothing, not even his name. The man was good at hiding.

She looked at him again, he had no idea he just revealed to her his real identity.

She looked back at the tiny writing, more of a reminder than anything else. She looked at the rest of the book, the missing sheets had been neatly cut off.

Looking at this notebook, she could assume that the man was diligent and organized. The kind of man who works efficiently.

Looking at The Shredder, she assumed he was a big brute with little but no education.

She must have missed something somewhere.

Thinking back at it, the man was Japanese but spoke perfect English. He never had any accent. Splinter had been clear about the fact Shredder grew up in Japan. And by the looks of this book, he probably learnt English when he was already an adult.

April could only come to one conclusion. The man was smarter than she initially thought. How could he be smart and still come up with messy plans stayed a mystery though.

When she signed papers, she always wrote April O'Neil. Which meant his first name was probably Oroku and his last name Saki. She had to remember this in case it could be of any use later on.

She then began to write in the book. She decided she would make a dairy as to not forget anything. She knew it could be gold when she'll be back at work.

When Shredder got up and came to her, she clamped to her new exercise book.

"Relax miss O'Neil, I'm not taking the book from you. Time to eat."

"I'm taking it with me."

He silently detached her chains and went to the great hall. A big table was in the center of the room and Rocksteady was setting down the plates.

They all silently sat down. Krang was at the "king place". Ready to judge them all and to give April death glares. She would always sit next to Shredder and face Rocksteady or Beebop as they often exchanged their own places. Today, Rocksteady sat in front of her. He gave her a big smile.

"Today, I made dinner Miss O'Neil!"

"Oh, thank you Rocksteady! It's really nice of you!" She responded with a smile too but it quickly faltered as she looked at some strange tomato soup with some small meatballs. She gave a quick glance to their plates and realized Shredder and her had smaller portions. As always. At first, she thought it was because Beebop and Rocksteady had mistakenly made smaller portion but now she knew it was systematic. A new mystery to uncover.

The group began to eat in silence. As always. The air was tense but strangely the first to break the silence was Rocksteady.

"So…uhm… April, do you like my meatball stew?"

"Oh, yes it's really… tasty."

Rocksteady seemed to suddenly glow with happiness: "It's better than Beebop's honey sandwiches no?"

Beebop suddenly glared at his friend, not too happy with what was just said: "You dumbass, stop bo'dering her with your stupid questions."

"Yes, stop bothering Miss O'Neil," Shredder added with a dangerously low voice.

"No, he's not bothering me! Yes, I do prefer your meatball stew even if Beebop's sandwiches were the best honey sandwiches I ever ate." And hopefully the only she was to ever eat… "But tell me please, _Rocksteady_ , why do I and Shredder have little portions?"

Rocksteady was about to answer her but Krang decided otherwise: "Well you see, _Miss April_ , at first I believed you were better _dead_. But Shredder wouldn't allow it so, as I believe your existence isn't necessary, I also believe you shouldn't spoil the little food we have left. Thus he cuts his parts in half. And I have to say it's a surprisingly stupid act coming from him."

Okay, mystery solved. But Krang just got to a new level of creepiness. He now looked at her with his crazy grin of his, giving her chicken skin as there was no doubt that he meant we he just said.

"Ya know, if ya want you can have some of mine too." Beebop said, popping a meatball in her plate.

"You are not giving her your food!" Shredder and Krang exploded at the same time. The little brain-like creature was now red with anger from the fact he didn't want April's time in the Technodrome getting easier. As for Shredder, he just looked terribly menacing.

Krang was the first to speak again as Beebop and Rocksteady were stunned by Shredder's mean look.

"You are not working, so you are no use for us. So, you're not getting food. End. Enjoy the fact you haven't been sent to your death yet."

"But I could work!"

For a second Krang looked taken aback by her sudden outburst. She didn't realize it but she had risen up and had just shouted the words. She looked at Shredder who still seemed upset but also surprised.

"I can work! I have nothing to do." She said, this time more quietly. She sat back, trying to give the impression she wasn't as demanding as she really was.

"Well, if that's what you want..."

"She's staying with me. We already discussed it. Weren't you afraid she would run off and blow up the rest of the technodrome?" Shredder said to Krang. It seemed to April she wouldn't be the one to choose.

"Yes, I remember Shrrreddder. But the lovely woman seems to want to work. Why not allow her?" Krang's voice was suddenly really gentle and smooth. If you didn't know him – and ignore the fact it was a walking brain and fang-like teeth- you could almost believe he was a nice guy.

But April knew better, and by the tone of Krang, she knew she had fucked up somewhere.

"She's staying with me. End of discussion."

"But boss! You can't keep here to yourself!" Rocksteady jumped in.

"Yas, you should let her come with us. Make food." Beebop added.

"I can cook." April said, in a matter of fact voice. Anyway, cooking with the two mutants seemed better than doing whatever Krang could suggest.

Krang was making a face, not happy with the turns of thing. On the other hand, Shredder seemed uninterested: "If you can improve the food I don't mind."

She was disappointed to see so little reaction from him.

"So, Miss _April_ , from now on, you'll be cooking with Beebop and Rocksteady. It's settled."

* * *

Now that April was alone with Beebop and Rocksteady, she began to regret her choice. Shredder, well, he was in some grey zone of hell where nothing made sense. But the two mutants were still very much her old enemies. Nothing else. And not having any kind of protection from the only other human on board made her feel like Little Red Riding Hood in the middle of the forest. With two big and stupid wolfs.

"So, ya see, we have a lot of cans." Told he Beebop as he opened the pantry.

They seemed eager to show her what was now her new job as both had spent time showing her the gigantic kitchen.

"What's that?" April asked, pointing to a big metallic door.

"That's the cold chamber." Rocksteady answered.

"We also put all the bodies of the guys we killed there", added Beebop, making himself and Rocksteady laugh uncontrollably.

April made a face, not sure if she could afford to not laugh or if she had to force herself. She silently went to the door and tried to open it.

"Na! Wait, I'll do it for ya." Beebop told her as he came next to her.

He opened the door and made what she assumed was a bow. "Mi'Lady."

"Oh stop, you're just looking plain stupid!" Rocksteady shoved him off while April looked inside.

There was what seemed like some never-ending rows of meat and fish. There also were some metallic containers. As she looked inside, she realized they were containing herbs, rice and what looked like oat.

"Why have we been eating so ba… so uhm. You know?" April got her sense back just in time to not insult their cooking.

"What? I don't understand. Do you understand Beebop?"

"I didn't understand a thing."

"I mean, there fish and meat. But up until now, we ate what seemed like canned food."

"It was canned food!" spoke out Beebop.

"Yeah, canned food is delicious!" added Rocksteady.

"I uh…" April didn't know what to answer. "But what is planned for tonight?"

"Instant noodles!" the mutants cheered together. High-fiving in the air as old pals would do after a match.

How could they be as happy as that about instant noodles?

"But, how about I make you _real_ noodles?"

"You can do dat?" Both Beebop and Rocksteady said, looking at her in awe.

"Well, no." Already, she saw the hurt appearing in their eyes. "But I can try!"

"Yay!" They cheered together.

Now, April had to somehow come up with a recipe she didn't know. But it would still be better than Beebop's honey sandwiches.

Anything would be better.

As she prepared the food with the two goofballs, she understood why Shredder's plans never worked out. Both of them had little to no attention and managed to fail at the easiest tasks.

* * *

"It's delicious Miss O'Neil!" exclaimed Rocksteady.

"Yesh, it'sh delichioush." Added Beebop, his snout full of pastas.

April had to say she was not as convinced as they were. Because of the lack of actual bare noodles, they had chosen pastas. Also, she just came up with whatever crossed her mind to make the soup, which meant it lacked savour. To add to the shame, some lonely meat pieces were floating around, looking as if they wanted nothing to do with the rest of the dish that had sunken in the depth of the bowl.

"What is it supposed to be?" asked Shredder, picking some pastas up with his chopsticks and looking at them with disdain. Speaking for the first time since he sat at the table.

"It's beef noodles."

This time he looked at her with incredibility. "You call this beef noodles?"

"Well, we had no noodles to begin with." She began to explain but was soon cut by the man next to her.

"The noodles aren't the only thing wrong in this dish."

"Hey! You're not the one cooking so you have nothing to say. Plus, it's still better than the honey sandwiches." April could already feel the anger build up inside her which made her answer without thinking.

"Wat? But ya said they were good!" piped up Beebop.

April turned to him "As I said, they were the best honey sandwiches I ever ate."

"Don't lie to him _April,_ they were shitty."

April looked back at Shredder, not knowing where the conversation was going. Shredder hadn't called her April since … well…

"Boss! Dat's mean!"

"You're better of knowing the truth. This woman lies as easily as she breathes. Don't believe what she says." He dismissively added, gesturing a pork bite in her direction.

"Is it true Miss O'Neil?" Beebop asked, looking at her with puppy eyes.

"I'm... What? What did you just say?" April chose to ignore Beebop for the moment, focusing on Shredder.

"Yes Shrreeedddeeer, please tell us why you said that."

Everyone turned to look at Krang. They were all so absorbed in the honey sandwich/ April Shredder bickering that they forgot about the noisy little brain-like alien.

The silence that fell after Krang's question was short lived as Shredder answered: "She made a fuss to get some books and as soon as she got them, she went away cooking."

Krang made a face, obviously disappointed by the answer: "That's nothing to do with lying, Shrredder."

"That's enough for me to get mad." He answered with a matter of fact tone.

"Well, if that's the only thing that's bothering you I didn't want to hurt you. I only wanted to be useful."

"If you go on cooking as badly as this, I have to say you were more useful sitting on a chair."

* * *

She had overreacted.

Well, that's what she thought now that she was sitting on "her" bed alone and after Shredder had just erupted like a volcano.

But at the time, throwing the rest of the noodles on him seemed like a good idea to let go of her anger.

She couldn't say she really regretted that. But she surely regretted that he was again mad at her. It took time to get him back to a neutral state of mind and now everything was ruined over beef noodles.

As soon as they got back to the bedroom he stormed in the bathroom. Surely needing a shower after being drenched in the hazardous soup.

She _knew_ she had to apologize, or at least say something. But the fact was, she was too stubborn to apologize as she believed the man had insulted her. But she had a survival instinct. Or she had in the past as now she was trying hard to know where those instincts were when she acted. If she really had anything near survival instincts, she wouldn't have done that.

* * *

**Oroku Saki**

For god sake, what had she thought? Yes, he had been a little mean but her reaction was excessive for someone who was a prisoner.

Scrubbing his shirt under the shower, he wondered what he had also been thinking. Why was he always just letting her do what she wanted? Wasn't he supposed to be the evil mastermind?

He surely never heard of an evil mastermind showered in cringy beef noodles soup.

Putting the shirt in the sink, he finally gave up on the idea of getting the stain off, he enjoyed his shower a bit. Soon, he would have to get back to his shitty reality: being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a very unstable group of people.

When he got out, he realized he forgot to take clothes to change. Great. He would have to go and take clothes at his room half naked.

He opened the door to find April waiting for him.

"Hey, I wanted to say … Where is your shirt?"

She looked mildly surprised, but still had a very long look at his torso. It bothered him to no end. Was he just some kind of nice looking object for her to take or look as she liked? But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction to know he minded what she was doing or thinking. Which meant he needed to make a snappy comment.

"Enjoying the view Miss O'Neil ? I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood tonight." He gave her his best smirk and was positively pleased to see her shocked look.

"What's your problem exactly?"

She turned her back to him and sat on her bed. She obviously wanted to sulk in a corner. Good, this evening would be peaceful. Unlike the last time, she tried to begin a conversation.

"I'll be right back."

"Yeah, whatever."

He quickly exited the room and went to his "real" room. The place was made to remind him of Japan. He liked it much because it was his little piece of tranquillity. And he was not about to show it to the very woman who shattered him not so long ago.

He took a quick glance at the picture of his mum and brother, wondering if he would ever get back to earth to see her again.

But he didn't really have time for personal reflections as he still had doubts about Krang and his apparent "peace". The little alien hardly ever gave up on his ideas. More often than not, he would just find a way to get what he wanted, even if it meant he had to wait.

Shredder quickly put on whatever training shirt and sweater he had and came back to the bedroom where April was waiting.

When he got in, he heard the sound of the shower running. At least, she didn't waste time. He took advantage of this time by laying in the bed. The day had been long, really long. And his back ached like hell because the floor wasn't really what you could call comfortable. He hadn't told her, because he still was ashamed to not have find another solution, but he had told the others that he wanted her exclusivity. He knew that, by making them believe that she was his, Krang and the mutants would keep their distance with her.

But it meant he had to sleep on the floor because his plan would be down the pipe as soon as one of the "others" would find out he was just covering her. If it happened, he could lose his power or her.

In the end, the Technodrome was now more than ever a dangerous place.

And she obviously didn't understand it.

When he heard the door open, he instinctively got up.

"No, no! Stay there, I can take the other bed."

"You are aware it's not a bed."

"Still, take the real bed. Take it as a way to pay you back for what I did earlier."

He couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"What's with that stupid smile?"

"Are you saying, this is an apology?"

She made a face but didn't answer back.

"Aren't you the one who said on tv that you never, ever apologize because you are never wrong?"

"What?! You saw that?"

"Should I consider this a privilege?"

"Oh, shut up already. I didn't think they would broadcast that "part"."

His smile soon faltered with the growing silence. What was he doing? Joking around with her was not the plan. The latest plan was to get them back to NY asap. And the plan he had to stick with was "to not fall again for her". Getting his heart broken once was enough.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author notes
> 
> Yep, this chapter finally came out. I know I said I wanted to publish earlier. Something like the beginning of September… Sorry.
> 
> But I actually did finish it in time. It was just that I wasn't happy with the development. In the first draft, April and Shredder were mad at each other. Terribly mad. And when I reread it I felt it was just too much. I couldn't publish it.
> 
> So I re-wrote it once. Then twice and FINALLY it came out ok. I'm a bit afraid this chapter might be a bit empty so please, give me feedback if you have that feeling.
> 
> The next Chapter will be interesting as -spoilers- it will be a flashback on when Shredder understood he was falling hard for the chestnut-haired reporter ;)


	6. When some have fun, others have it tough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!  
> First I want to thank all the readers who left a review! Thanks so much. It really gave me the motivation to go on. Seeing people enjoy so much this fiction made me realize I had to end it even if I'm quite the perfectionist lol I confessed to one of you I was actually planning to rewrite it all. And change some of the plot because of a friend's review. But she made me realize that this is my fiction and I shouldn't change it because others give me critics. MMhhhh quite true. So now, promise, i won't lose time rewriting existing chapters lol  
> Here are the names of those who help me in this difficult writer time!   
> PoisonChamomile   
> CinemaNerd   
> tisifone21   
> MessorAnimarum   
> KariLeanne  
> Shreddie J
> 
> Enjoy :)

** Oroku Saki **

Entering the noisy bar, Shredder sent deadly vibes to Krang in his head. They had stuck up with the same pattern of kidnappings. Strangely enough, it fitted the schedule of a regular job. He would often kidnap her on weekdays avoiding Friday nights. And weekends were the small two days peace everyone needed to stay sane. Why change all of a sudden? Krang had argued that the element of surprise would be great but it still bothered him. Sure, he might sound like an old grandma, but he liked when things went as planned. And, of course, April wasn’t at her apartment on a late Friday night.

He definitely wasn’t eager to know what she was doing in a downtown club.

He hadn’t even changed for the occasion, so when I burly-spiked man entered the bar, the few not too drunk people slowly walked away from his path. It didn’t take him long to spot the chest-nut haired women walking in the toilets.

Perfect, he would corner her there.

Scaring the other customers, he went straight to the door and waited a few minutes because he didn’t plan to kidnap her while she was doing what people do in toilets. When he entered, he found her putting on make-up.

“Miss O’Neil.” He wanted to sound terrifying but he had to admit his voice faded out when he saw her fully.

Wearing a skimpy dress that revealed her impressive cleavage, her make-up was subtle. As if she knew that she didn’t need a lot more to get the attention of whoever was actually looking at her. She was flamboyant.

Until she talked.

“Haha, Shredder! You’re early! Today is Friday you dumbass!”

The fact she was struggling to stay straight of her feet indicated she was completely drunk.

“Well, from the looks of you, perhaps you needed me to come and kidnap you before you do something stupid.” As he spoke, he came to her and tried to grip her wrists.

She fiercely fought him: “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I already said it, kidnapping you.”

“No!”

The stupid struggle went on for what seemed like an eternity. Coping with a drunk April was actually worst than coping with the every day April. Her movements where unpredictable as even she didn’t know what she was doing. Shredder also took into account that that skimpy dress of hers would probably reveal everything if he was to charge her on his shoulder like he used to do. He also feared she might throw up at any moment. God, why did Krang thought that his stupid plan of his absolutely needed to be on a Friday?

“Stop it and come with me already.”

“No, today is Friday night! It’s time out. You can’t kidnap me now.”

“Whoever said there was a time out?”

“I need to have fun sometimes okay? And Friday night is fun night.”

“You can have all the fun you want in the Technodrome.”

At those words, she gave her a strange look which quickly changed in something more … Sexy. What had he done?

“All the fun I want? Really Shredder?” Her posture changed as she went in what seemed like her flirty look.

“I don’t know what you are implying but there’s a TV down there.” He felt like a child when the words rolled off his tongue. She obviously wasn’t thinking of watching a stupid TV program. And there was nothing more to do there.

“Fun night is all about sex Shredder.”

Well, at least she was direct. She looked at him from head to toe and he felt completely naked. In a haughty tone, she added: “So, let me be and come back tomorrow.”

The smart fox went straight for the door after that, believing he would stay dumbstruck on the place. But he was a ninja, he was trained to be quick and swift. Slamming the door hard as she was opening it, he blocked her between his two arms. The girl wanted to play? Then he would play too.

“You know what? I might take on that offer.”

She gave him a panicked look before she straightened up.

“Really? I’m sure you’re acting tough but in reality, you won’t take on the offer.” She said with a smug smile.

“I’m the bad one here, April, don’t forget it.”

“Okay, then kiss me.”

What the actual fuck? His surprised must be visible as she began to smile again.

“Didn’t you say you were the bad one here? To me, it looks more like a bad boy than anything else.”

He felt his blood boil from humiliation. How insufferable could she get?

“Okay, a kiss and we’re gone.”

“That’s the deal, bad boy.”

Obviously, drunk April seemed to have a lot of fun bullying him. He took his helmet off and realized how hot he had felt in it. Meanwhile, April didn’t try to run away and he wondered if this wasn't the first time she wasn’t trying to run away from him. At first, she had looked at him straight in the eyes, clearly saying that she wasn’t afraid of him. But now that he had taken his helmet off, her gaze wondered a bit to fully look at the face she had never really seen.

He now didn’t dare to move. She was so drunk she probably didn’t realize what she was doing. Or that what he felt like because to him this was ridiculous. But he knew that if he dropped out now, he would never hear the end of it.

And suddenly, his thoughts were cut off by the feeling of delicate lips crushing on his. He had the feeling a tsunami had just crushed his mind as nothing could be processed anymore other than her soft lips on his and her smooth skin under his fingers. His hands had closed on her by their own will and now, he couldn’t find a reason to stop. As he felt her hot and velvety tongue on his lips, one of his hands descended, feeling the soft curve of her stomach. For once, their tongues weren’t used to fight another and instead seemed to dance fiercely together. The hand who stayed on her face began to feel her hair, enjoying it and discovering it was a lot softer than he thought. He then felt her hands come to life and slowly make their way from his hips to his torso, feeling him. His hand began to pull her hair, making her head turn to give him better access and fully enjoy their kiss.

And as suddenly as it had begun, the kiss ended by her pushing him away with those very hands that were feeling him a second ago.

“Give me a second.”

This time, he was too stunned to react when she turned, opened the door and disappeared.

Nothing could describe what he was feeling. He had the impression his stomach had just flipped over and he felt as hot as ever. Most importantly he could still feel the ghost of her soft lips on his and her delicious scent.

And suddenly, it occurred to him. This wasn’t good, this hadn’t just been a kiss. It had turned him upside down and he knew that wasn’t what normally happened. He didn’t want to put any words on it even if he knew what it was. The knew only one thing, this wouldn’t end well. It couldn’t.

Looking back at his past, he remembered how bad things had turned because of this feeling. How it could turn to hatred in a matter of seconds. He walked to the mirror April used to put on her make-up and, looking straight at it, he saw what he had become. A mere shadow of what he was once, hopefully. The punch went without him thinking and he heard a cry as a woman opened the door at the same time. He first looked at the shattered mirror on the floor, then to the woman who hadn’t moved yet. 

He was surprised to see April.

“Didn’t you run to your turtles?” He was quite pleased that his voice turned out like a slur. He had got back his senses.

“We had a deal. A kiss and we go.” She told him flatly.

Walking over the debris of the mirror he picked up his helmet and put it back on.

“You know, you didn’t have to break the mirror to look badass.”

Was this flattery? He didn’t mind as his mood was too bad to be lightened in any way.

“Let’s go.”

She came with him without adding anything else.

Slowly thing became foggy, he knew what had happened next. He had taken April back to the Technodrome, she slept like a log and next thing in the morning she didn’t remember what had happened.

Sadly, he hadn’t got the same treatment. He had remembered every little detail and was now painfully aware that she had gotten under his skin.

Even now he could smell her scent as if she was right next to him.

In fact, his acute senses told him that she really was next to him, there was no other way. Opening his eyes, he had time to see a silhouette hovering over him. What was happening?

He quickly grabbed the opponent and pinned him under him.

Of course, it was April.

“What are you doing?” After his dream, he wasn’t in the mood to temper with her awkward behaviour.

“I should be the one asking you, what are you doing.”

“Your little attempt at intimidation has failed, you were the one hovering over me at night. What were you doing?”

She didn’t answer and looked away.

“What were you doing April?”

She looked back at him with that heroic look of hers. “You looked like you had a nightmare, so I was about to wake you up.”

Unprepared for this, he shuffled back. That wasn’t good and he knew it, rule number one was to never show the other something could unsettle you.

Getting back up on his feet -or putting as much space as possible between them without letting it be noticed-  he added “I do not have nightmares, Miss O’Neil. If I dream I have nice dreams, like the last one where I was dining on turtle soup.”

Strangely enough, she laughed at that. Wasn’t the innuendo clear enough? He had just said he wanted to eat her best friends.

“What’s so funny?”

Calming back a bit she answered him: “Come on Shredder, hearing you say that is like listening to a broken record. A funny one that is.”

Saying nothing more he looked at the clock. It was five in the morning. Too early to get going. This was going to be a shitty day for sure.

He looked back at the shadow that was April, who seemed to be settling on the bed so he went back for the other bed. The one that wasn’t a bed.

“Why were you awake at five in the morning?”

“Well, a duvet cover on the floor isn’t what you can call comfortable.”

“We can say it’s the first time we agree on something.”

Not bothering to add anything else he turned his back to her and tried to sleep. A few minutes went by before she spoke again.

“You know, it’s ridiculous.”

He should have known she would stop there. She never stopped. Sighing, he answered: “What is ridiculous miss O’Neil?”

“We already slept together. And you made it really clear that you didn’t want anything more with me. So, there’s no reason not to share the bed.”

If he remembered clearly, he wasn’t the one that had started this in the first place. But he was too tired and actually didn’t want to speak about it again so he just answered: “I’m not sharing a bed with you because you are a little minx that tries everything she can to get what she wants.”

“Are you implying that I’m going to force myself on you?”

It was too dark to see her face but Shredder could clearly hear her mocking tone.

“Forget it. We are not sharing. That’s all I have to say.”

Silence came and seemed to stretch on. The floor was definitely colder than the bed. And less comfortable. Shredder was already regretting the fact he hadn’t kept the bed for him. He was a warrior, a ninja. He shouldn’t be the one hiding under a duvet on the floor. His day hadn’t begun yet and the damn woman had already reminded him of what he would only speak as an unfortunate event, then made fun of him and finally mocked him.

He had just made a decision, this would end today.

When he got up and April’s shadow moved a bit, she knew something was up. And she definitely gave a cry when he took her in his arms.

“What are you doing?!”

“Just taking back what is mine.”

He put her back on the floor, not really shoving her down but also not being gentle. He went back to the bed before she could get up.

“You know, you could have asked nicely.”

“Shut up.”

Silence. Again.

But this time she didn’t speak again.

** April O’Neil **

A few hours later, April was up, preparing for her day. Putting on her yellow jumpsuit, trying to put her hair nicely and… she was done. Well, she would definitely not pass on TV today but still she wished she had some make up to brighten a bit her face.

Shredder disappeared in the bathroom to change. At least, he had some PJs.

Finally, being alone, she tried to calm down a bit. He had nearly caught her this morning. She had to be more careful. The day he had tied her up to the bed, she had managed to hide her Turtle Com behind the said bed. And since then, she had tried to call them every day with no success.

Their relationship had gotten to a strange point. Yesterday he looked nearly normal. And today the damn man looked like he was about to attend a funeral. Apart from their little conversation, he hadn’t spoke to her yet. Not even a good morning.

The fuck was happening in his brain?

Shredder came out of the bathroom and didn’t even glance at her.

“Let’s go.”

He was definitely a lunatic. She quickly followed him out of the room. Today, she had to think of a new place to hide the Turtle Com.

O O O

 “Miss April?” whined Rocksteady.

“Yes, Rocksteady?”

“I don’t like salad.”

April tried to suppress her sigh as much as she could but she had a hard time coping with the two mutants. She tried her best to make something good to eat and to lift the mood.

In the beginning, everybody’s mood had been more or less okay. If not for April and Shredder, the rest of the group was coping as if it was just any workday. But now that they had been stuck in space for two weeks, things had suddenly changed. Krang had stopped his pesky remarks and was repeating that he would soon find a way to get power back. Beebop and Rocksteady were getting more and more flustered with each passing day. Shredder looked like he wasn’t angry with her anymore, even if today was an exception. All in all, they were losing hope.

Her grandpa had told her once that, on ships, the most important wasn’t the navigator or the captain but the cook. Because, when men were cramped in a small space and didn’t know when they would have the chance to get back home, food was the only joy left.

And that’s why she tried to make the best dishes she could.

“Rocksteady, we can’t eat meat and pasta every day. Variety is an important part of a healthy diet.”

“I’ve been eating instant noodles for the past five years and my health is very good, look!”

Rocksteady began making poses to show off his muscles. Sadly for him, it also showed he was a little fat.

“Sorry to tell you that, but you’re a little fat.”

“What?!” exclaimed Rocksteady, sadness and shock were explicit on his face.

“Yeah, I already told ya Rocksteady, ya should have been more careful with those chocolates.” Added Beebop, suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation than the salad. “Look April, I’m the one with a lot of muscles!” Beebop flexed his arm to show off his biceps and April had to admit he looked a lot more muscular than his friend.

 “You look like you work out Beebop.”

“Yeah, I work out every day! If ya want, ya can come with me.” Beebop said with a big smile.

“Yes, perhaps one day. I could use a little work out session. You have someplace to work out?”

“Yeah, we have that room Shredder wanted. What was the name of it Rocksteady?”

Scratching his chin, Rocksteady answered thoughtfully: “I dunno. The mojo?”

“Nah, that was in yesterday’s film, you dumbass.”

“Are you speaking of a dojo?”

“Yeah, that’s the name!” exclaimed Beebop.

“That’s where Shredder used to train us in ninja things, you know? Ninja secret things.”

April began chopping down the tomatoes, trying to look like she wasn’t interested. When she did that, the two mutants would tell her anything to get back her attention.

“Yes, I see. I used to do judo when I was young. Must look similar.”

“No!” they cried in unison.

“It’s a lot more impressive than that!”

“Yeah, we’ll show ya!”

Beebop and Rocksteady began doing … things. Nothing else could be said to describe what they were doing. The moved and tried to take a stance but nothing seemed to be thought over.

“Come over April, we’ll show you how to do!”

“Boys, I have to finish the salad first.”

 “Ow, come on! Nobody cares for the damn salad.” Beebop came and pull on her shoulder forcefully. A loud tearing sound was heard and when April understood what had cracked, she jumped away from the mutant.

“The fuck!! You ripped my suit!”

Looking down at her clothes, she realized that it was worse than she feared. It wasn’t the shoulder seam which had ripped open. It was the zipper seam, on the front. She now had a deep cleavage showing a lot more than she wanted.

And, of course, the two mutants were now looking at her like kids would watch some brand-new toys in a showcase.

“Don’t you dare look at me!!” April said, hiding her cleavage with her hands. She didn’t take time to think, she did what seemed like the only good idea. She went straight to the door.

“Hey, April wait!” she heard them cry in unison.  But really, she didn’t want them to see her like this. And she wasn’t about to go on with her cooking nearly naked.

She ran in the corridors, knowing perfectly where she was going. She had no other choice but to go to Shredder.

When she got to the control room, the door opened without any problems. Barging in, Shredder addressed to her in a very bored tone: “what is it again Krang?”

“I need you” was all April managed to say.

When he heard her, he immediately got up and turned to face her. And if she hadn’t been half-naked in a spaceship lost in the middle of some distant dimension, she surely would have laughed at the face he made: mouth gaping and eyes as big as saucers.

“What happened?” he managed to say in a calm voice.

“Just that idiot of Rocksteady wanted to show me something and he ripped my jumpsuit by accident.”

His eyes seemed to slightly close as he muttered: “Yeah right.”

“Hey! Who do you think I am? I didn’t do this on purpose!”

He passed her, obviously heading out, “I know, come with me.”

Not asking anything more, she went after him. Her naked state was very troubling for her, but April didn’t miss one thing: they were not heading to their room. They were heading somewhere else.

Even though he had offered her some clothes on the first day, she had turned him down, thinking they would get home soon. And she really regretted it. Also, as time went by she was more and more convinced they were not sleeping in his room. He always got out and brought back new clothes. Which meant they were now probably heading for his real room, aka the latest mystery April wanted to solve.

They walked for a few minutes until Shredder stopped and turned so quickly she bumped into him.

If he cared, he didn’t show it as he simply stated: “Turn around and face the corridor.”

She gave him a very fiery look, ready to open her mouth and state she would do as she please when he added: “Or you do that and get something to change, or you’ll stay in those clothes for the rest of the trip”.

She kept the fiery glare and turned around. She had her convictions, but she also wanted to keep her dignity. And for once, he imposing cleavage was working against her.

She heard the door open, what was probably drawers being opened and in less than a minute Shredder was back, pushing clothes in her arms and pushing her along the way.

“Hey! I need to change!”

“Yes, and for that, you’ll go to the room.”

“Why not that one?”

“Why not the other one?”

She pouted and gave him a puppy look, to no avail. “Okay, I’ll go back to our room.”

“I’m going back to the control room. See you later.”

She looked at his back as he had already passed her and was walking down the corridor. Today he seemed very strange. Normally, they played together, fought together. But today he looked like he didn’t want to answer back.

A slight chill made her aware of her current state. She had to change now. She gave him a last glance and went back to their room.

~ ~ ~

As soon as she got in the room, she put on her new clothes. A simple t-shirt, some sport pants and a very plain sweater. All black. Hopefully, Shredder was well built which meant his t-shirt was big enough for her boobs. What would she have done if the damn things were too small for her to put them on?

In the end, the strangest thing was the smell. All the clothes had that strange herbal scent she used to smell in Japanese restaurants when they brought the small towels to wash the hands.

So now, she had the feeling he was everywhere she was.

It actually made her remember all the time he had creeped on her, suddenly sizing her from behind.

Looking back at it, the act seemed a lot more suggestive than she had ever thought off.

Shaking her head to forget about those nasty thoughts, she headed back to the kitchen.

** Oroku Saki **

Sighing, Shredder laid back on his chair, sighing heavily. They had been lost in dimension X for about two weeks now. And today April came back with her suit zipper broken. He was having a hard time believing it was an accident. Back when he was in Japan, he had lived in a clan and he had developed a skill to feel when people were about to go crazy. Up until now, they had lived it nicely but it would soon turn nasty. He could swear it.

_Knock, knock, knock._

Turning around on his chair he saw April leaning on the door frame. Seeing her in his clothing made his heart skip a beat. He hadn’t thought about it but he’d never pictured her wearing his clothes unless in some of his late-night fantasies where April and he would end up in the same bed, far away from Krang or the Turtles.

“April to Shredder, April to Shredder, do you receive?”

If only the real April wasn’t as annoying.

“Why are you here miss O’Neil?”

“You didn’t come to eat. I was wondering if you were .. hungry”.

She had stopped her sentence for a second, which meant she didn’t tell him the truth. She was hiding something again, probably.

“I’m not hungry today.”

This was actually a lie. Looking at the clock he realized it was already 1 pm, he was so focused in his mathematics he had missed lunch.

“You know, after waiting for you for an hour, I figured it out.”

“So why are you here then?”

She seemed taken aback by his sentence. She turned around and disappeared from his view for a few seconds before she came back with a plate.

“I brought you some food back.”

She came up to him and put the tray next to his papers. Looking down at the salad, he felt glad she hadn’t left Bebop and Rocksteady eat his part.

“You know, Bebop and Rocksteady wanted to eat it. But I didn’t let them do it.”

Well, at least she could be a pain in the ass for others too. Looking at her, he met her stare. She was stranger than usual. She seemed to be scrutinizing him for something. The reflexion he had just before her arrival came back. Things were definitely taking a bad turn.

“Hmmm, how is the mathematics going?”

He looked at his computer’s monitors which were displaying a lot of different variables. The stack of filled paper next to him had grown considerably. The place was far away from it’s usual neat state.

“It’s going.”

She seemed disappointed in the answer. He could see it on her face.

“Does it mean you still haven’t found a way back?”

“ _April_ , if I had found a way back, we would be back.”

“But you have some clue on how to get back right?”

“Of course!  You don’t have faith in me miss O’Neil?”

She gave him what was probably her most genuine look “I know that if someone can get you out of her, it’s you.”

He didn’t know how to answer. For once, she wasn’t giving him the impression she was trying to get something from him. Her hand came to his shoulder, giving him a squeeze.

“I may not always look like it but I have respect for you. I know you can do it.”

She was still looking at him with her big brown eyes when he raised his hand to lay it on top of hers.

“I’m glad to know it.”

He had no idea of what was happening. But somehow, he let go of her, and she went back to the door.

“If ever you want something special to eat, tell me. I’ll make it.”

“As long as it is eatable I’ll manage.”

She smiled while he smirked at her. 

When the door shut down, his face went back to the blank face he had for the entire day. That morning, when he thought today would be a shitty day he had been right. Turning back to his computer, he sighed deeply. He had done all the calculus he knew of, searched all the possible ways they had and the answer was quite clear. They didn’t have the means to go back to NY. Those damn Turtles had been way too good on this one, they were stuck here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what are your feelings?   
> Did you like the flashback? It helps us understand why Shredder acted how he acted in the first chapter. It also fleshes a bit April's character. For me, I always saw her as a very independent woman. How about you?  
> Do you think they really will stay stuck up there?   
> Why is Shredder so stressed about the behaviour of Bebop and Rocksteady?  
> You'll have to wait for the next chapters to now! Don't worry, I'll try to update more often. Plus, as I told some of you I actually already have another story planned! I want to write it lol. There's not enough Shredder/ April love on the internet.  
> Let's have a little thought for poor Krang who didn't appear in this chapter :(   
> See you soon and if you feel like it you can send me messages to chat about the fiction!


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